


The Scientist, the Student and the Puddle

by GirlDressedInBlack



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2018-12-23 18:17:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11995323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlDressedInBlack/pseuds/GirlDressedInBlack
Summary: Osgood is clutched in the grasp of one of the most dangerous criminals in the universe, dying, in one moment and the next she is collapsing to her knees on a beach in front of two people she had never met in her life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Both Osgoods live and I just did not realise how much I could ship Osgood and Bill but also Heather and Bill and then from that had the realisation that Heather and Osgood would also be adorable so polyshipping, haha!
> 
> Inspired by this post (even though I know it was referring to the Time Lords): http://loki-at-221b-baker-street.tumblr.com/post/164904635122
> 
> Chapters may be a while between coming out but I know where I'm going at least.

Osgood gasps, pushing herself free.

She falls to her knees and looks around in confusion at the sand everywhere.

Missy is gone but so is the plane and the Doctor and- oh god! Where are all those cybermen?

Osgood grabs her pocket and fumbles for her inhaler, breath coming fast.

But she feels fine.

No pain. No shortness of breath.

She’s dead, isn’t she?

That’s the only explanation- Missy killed her and this is her weird afterlife simulator. She’s probably just put her on a beach to mess with her.

_ Okay- it’s not the only explanation. It’s the most obvious explanation.  _ Osgood reminds herself, a little disappointed by her own jumping to conclusions.

The scientist adjusts her glasses, frowning and begins to analyse her surroundings properly.

The sea isn’t far away and judging by the position of the sun it’s around two to four in the afternoon. 

She recognises this beach. If her prediction that little time has passed since whatever happened with Missy is true that means there’s another three or so hours until high tide.

Osgood turns.

A younger woman is standing behind her looking vaguely worried but more excited than anything. Osgood notes the multicoloured top and smiles a little in reflex at the familiar colours. Over it she’s wearing pair of denim dungarees with pins that only confirm her suspicions on the girl’s sexuality.

Behind her is a girl dressed in darker tones. She wears black jeans with neat black chelsea boots, a burgundy top and a navy blue jacket. Her shoes are far cleaner than the other girl’s doc martens. 

The smarter looking girl is far paler than the other and much less easy to read by facial expression. 

She is smiling a little which Osgood hopes means that she’s benign. The scientist has dealt with too many difficult aliens to want to deal with a difficult human.

Something strikes her as off about the two girls though. 

The yellow star shape in the pale girl’s eye is clearly a birth defect of some kind- although a subjectively pretty one- so it’s not that. 

Something about them just reeks of extraterrestrials and she would know- it’s her job to know.

The more brightly dressed one smiles, one side of her lips curling up more than the other as she suddenly looks unsure, bending the knee of her right leg which is a fraction in front of the other. 

“Hey- are you alright?” She asks.

Osgood flashes a smile which fades quickly, looking down for a second and inspecting the floor before she returns her gaze to the girl whose eyebrows are drawing towards each other in apparent concern.

“Yeah- just a bit confused.” Osgood says, tucking some hair that’s fallen loose back behind her ear, “You wouldn’t happen to have seen a plane around here or even how I got here? I’m part of Derren Brown’s show and I’m afraid that I’ve got a bit lost. You can probably guess how often that happens working with him.” She lies, smiling a little more embarrassedly and holding their gaze for enough time that it shouldn’t be suspicious but should help to make her seem believable. She makes a meaningless hand gesture at the end to speak to being flustered, nose crinkling as she grimaces.

The definitely gay one raises her eyebrows and crosses her arms, hips cocked, clearly disbelieving. 

Her possibly gay friend- maybe girlfriend but Osgood doesn’t want to presume- just tilts her head to the side a little, eyes narrowing in- Osgood thinks- amusement rather than annoyance. Her lips quirk a little and the scientist leans towards that conclusion.

“Uh. No you didn’t. We just saved you from being killed by Missy.” The brightly dressed one says, forehead creased. She barely finishes speaking before she starts again, arms unfolding as if to take a box, hands splaying and rotating slightly as she tries to clarify what she’s just said.

“Well- not really. You did die. Heather just put you back into a human shape so you’re kind of alive again. It’s confusing- a bit like when you’re in a dream and your hand just goes through solid things and you aren’t really freaked out but you know you should be because it’s so weird. It’s that kind of confusing.” The darker skinned girl says.

Osgood finds herself  both moderately confused by everything the woman has said and entertained.

“Or like when you meet a really cute girl and you don’t know if they’re gay but you really think they might be and they react in the ways you would expect but you just aren’t sure and there’s something off that you can’t put your finger on.” The girl points at her, waggling her finger a little for emphasis as her eyebrows rise again.

The more she talks the more endearing the scientist is finding this strange woman.

Also the confirmation that she’s gay is quite reassuring but Osgood really needs to focus on things which aren’t how much she likes the girl already.

“So you guys somehow brought me back to life even though you don’t know me and I’m not a human anymore.” Osgood summarises, arching one eyebrow and looking at them both skeptically.

The two girls look between each other and the confirmed gay one lifts her arms in a strange shrug, blowing out her cheeks.

“Well. Yeah- basically.” She says, looking impressed.

“Right. Assuming that you’re telling the truth I’m going to presume you are aliens?” Asks the scientist, eyebrows raised in question.

“You could.” Says Heather, smirking with a twinkle in her eye that has nothing to do with the defect.

“Shut up!” Laughs the other, smacking her gently on the arm.

The scientist is thinking that same thought at her brain which can’t stop staring at them both when it really needs to be doing the important task of figuring out what’s going on.

“We’re human.” The other girl continues, focussing back on Osgood. 

Almost immediately she pulls a strange face.

“Well- we used to be. It’s a long story but we’re the same as you- we used to be human then stuff happened and now we’re almost human. We explore stars.” She says, shrugging again as if what she’s saying is completely normal.

“I could make you human again if you wanted.” Offers Heather, extending a hand and smiling gently, “I could put you back with your sister and you could keep working with UNIT.” She says.

“Oh god- my sister!” Says Osgood, feeling worry fill her.

Does her sister think she’s dead?

Is she actually dead?

Where was she when everything happened?

“Your sister is fine.” Heather soothes, “We can visit her if you like- let the both of you talk before you make any decisions.” She says, hand still extended.

Osgood nods, pale.

“Yes. I think that would be a good idea.” She says, swallowing.

“Why are you still holding out your hand?” Osgood asks, eyes narrowing slightly in confusion.

“Why don’t you take it and see?” Heather says, smirking and Osgood knows it’s a bad idea because the two women are probably lying about being human and skin contact with unidentified aliens could carry so many kinds of risks the risk assessment alone could take years of research just to gather enough information to know how much of a risk the action would be.

So Osgood knows it’s a bad idea.

Unfortunately whether Heather is an alien or not she currently looks like a rather attractive girl with a really pretty smirk which does bad things with the scientists impulse control.

As much as she normally slots into the Ravenclaw mindset quite well there’s always been a bit of Gryffindor in her.

Osgood takes the strange star-eyes girl’s hand…

And nothing happens.

Heather smiles, staring into Osgood’s eyes and the scientist thinks that she is glad she doesn’t currently need her inhaler because normally right now she would be crouched in the corner, desperately trying to recover.

That defect is quite striking.

Osgood can’t quite find it in her to let go.

“Bill?” Says the girl and Osgood stores the name away as a much shorter reference than ‘brightly coloured girl’ or ‘girl who is most-likely-probably-almost-certainly gay’.

“Yeah. Coming.” Bill says, taking the hand the pale girl has extended towards her.

“Wait- what’s happening- where are we-” Osgood asks, stepping towards them both, releasing her hold on Heather’s hand. The girl doesn't let go.

And then there’s the most strange feeling like having a deluge of water poured over her. It’s not entirely uncomfortable but it’s new.

The scientist closes her eyes, holding her breath and trying to remain as calm as possible until the sensation fades.

When it finally does she opens her eyes to the inside of the flat she shares with her sister. 


	2. Chapter 2

Osgood stumbles, holding out a hand as she wrenches herself away from the two women in panic.

She is silent, hand to her heart as her eyes dart around the hallway.

_ Possibly a hand-held teleportation device. Not a vortex manipulator. No sign of it. _

Slowly Osgood stands, wary despite the lack of aggression.

“What was that?” She asks, eyes fixed now on Heather who is still smirking, eyes twinkling in a way which Osgood likes far too much for her own good.

Bill steps forwards, hands held out placatingly.

“Hey- don’t worry. That’s just sort of how we travel- Heather just uses a tiny bit of your memory to find a place and then she kind of… Reassembles us there? I’m not actually really sure how it works?” She finishes, face contorting in confusion as she looks back at Heather. Heather shrugs and Bill turns back to Osgood, shrugging too although she looks much more sheepish about it.

“I realise that might not be the best thing to say when you’re someone who studies this kind of thing but we honestly don’t understand-” Bill rambles on.

Osgood has no attention for her though, gaze glued to the door at the end of the corridor.

Specifically the woman coming through it.

“Who are you?” The woman shouts, immediately dropping her plastic bags of groceries to the floor, gun aimed square at Osgood’s chest. She pays no attention to either Heather or Bill, pushing themselves to the sides of the corridor.

Osgood makes no move, watching the tears already coursing down her mirror’s cheeks.

“You. You know it’s me. You can feel it.” Osgood says to her double, hand held up as she swallows. She doesn't doubt this.  _Can't_ doubt that she knows it's her somewhere in her.

“No. No. I don’t know anything at all.” The other Osgood chokes out, neither hand leaving her gun to wipe away her tears. Her fingers shake over the trigger.

“All I know is that two strangers and someone wearing the body of my dead sister have appeared in my apartment without tripping any of the many alarms we’d set up.” She’s breathing erratically and Osgood frowns, lowering her arms a little, stepping forwards instinctively to help her sister.

“Inhaler.” She reminds, just finishing the word before there’s a bang and a yelp and her flesh and organs and bones are rippling and it feels incredibly weird.

Her sister is staring at her in horror, breathing coming even more panicked than before as she fires again and again and again until the gun is spent and Osgood is still moving forwards towards her, running now as her body ignores the bullets passing through it, both of them crying.

“Shit! Shit!” And the Osgood in the doorway is crumpled on the floor now, phone in her hands and gun discarded as she rocks slightly with every breath.

The phone picks up almost instantly as she brings it to her face with trembling hands, collapsed against the door and pushing it closed.

“Kate! It’s… It’s! Code.. Code!” She manages to wheeze out.

“Osgood! Osgood! What code is it? Are you okay? Osgood!” Kate almost yells from the other end of the line as her sister finally makes it down to her side, instantly fishing in her pocket and retrieving the inhaler as Osgood weakly tries to fight her off, lungs failing her.

The awful sound seems to multiply in Osgood’s head as she manages to pull the cap off the inhaler and get it into her sister’s mouth and push the canister down. She pulls the phone from her sister’s weak hands and wraps that hand instead around the inhaler, holding it steady.

“Breathe.” She commands, one hand on her sister’s cheek to keep her head upright and the other helping her work the inhaler. 

Kate is commanding something or other from the other side of the phone by her side but she ignores it, meeting her sister’s panicked eyes as she helps her.

“We’re not here to hurt you. I never could- you know that.” She tries to smile, swallowing at the guilt which fills her throat.

The other Osgood ignores her, taking control of her own inhaler with her own trembling hands.

“Hell of a family reunion.” Bill says under her breath.

At her words the Osgood collapsed on the floor snaps her gaze up past her sister, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she tries to force her breathing into a gentler rhythm.

The phone has gone silent now and they should probably be worrying about whatever’s coming next but that is neither of the Osgood’s priorities right now, Heather is extremely unconcerned and Bill is too shocked by the bullets embedded in the wall to do much but stare in shock.

Osgood gathers up the bags while her sister depresses her inhaler again, checking to make sure nothing is broken briefly. 

She makes sure to stay in Osgood’s sight, knowing that any second she is out of sight would only make her sister more suspicious of her.

“Oh. Stupid.” She mutters to herself as she props the bags up against the wall.

Osgood turns back to her sister, fixing her eyes on her. She’d never thought that she’d use this precaution, as likely as it was working with U.N.I.T.

“The uprising of truth over common belief is-” She begins, crouched as close to her mirror as she dares given the amount of stress she’s under.

A start of recognition comes into her eyes and Osgood can’t finish as her twin claps a hand onto her knee, pure shock playing across her features.

She removes the inhaler from her mouth briefly, staring at her sister.

“How?” She asks, breathing still awkward but recovering slowly.

“I can explain later. Well- hopefully they can. I don’t know much yet but I’m- I’m so glad to see you again.” Osgood says, smiling warmly.

* * *

It doesn’t take much longer for Osgood to put away her sister’s groceries, filling the kettle and setting about preparing tea while Bill and Heather give as much detail as they can about the whole mechanics of her still being alive. She’s just finishing up when her sister pulls out the chair behind her, sitting down heavily.

“We never have anything normal happen to us, do we?” She asks, sounding somewhat amused and a lot better than she did earlier.

“Perks of working with U.N.I.T.” Osgood replies, putting a mug down in front of her sister. Bill and Heather stand in the doorway, looking somewhat awkward.

“Tea’s on the side, add whatever you usually have.” Osgood says absentmindedly, sitting opposite her sister.

“Yeah- you do realise I have so many tests I want to run? U.N.I.T are going to want at least half as many too.” The second Osgood says, sipping at her tea and swallowing with a slightly pained expression, “I always forget it’s too hot.” She murmurs, not taking her eyes off of her sister, as if she would disappear if she looked away again.

“I still can’t believe you’re alive- kind of.” She says.

In response Osgood extends a hand over the table, palm up. The other Osgood places her hand in it, squeezing lightly.

“I can’t wait to look at everything you discover. You’re the only person I would trust with that.” She says with a smile.

“Because I am you?” The other her queries with a raised eyebrow.

“Exactly- we’re brilliant!” The first Osgood says, grinning cheekily at the other.

“Yes. We are, aren’t we?” The second one smiles back.

Bill looks over the two with a smile, mug held up to her face and Heather by her side.

At that moment there’s a crash from the corridor.

The two Osgoods turn in unison.

“Shit! Kate!”

And indeed it is.

“This is Kate Stewart, Chief Scientific Officer for the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. We have you surrounded.” Comes a stern voice from beyond the open door, dust wheeling like smoke across the ground.

“Ah. Shit.” The first Osgood repeats, taking another sip of her tea while there’s a chance.

“We’re going to need a lot more tea.” Summarises the second Osgood.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry- this was meant to be out yesterday but instead I social lifed. Anyway- here now- next chapter should be up on the 19th of August. Hope you enjoy.

After everything has been explained Kate sits somewhat uncomfortably at the table next to the second Osgood with a mug of tea. 

She’s not so used to having contact with the Doctor’s companions despite her research on each of them and certainly not when they’ve already died. Fortunately Bill herself seems unaware of this and more than capable of smoothing any tensions in the room just by being there and herself.

It’s strange- the sight of the woman who used to be her boss seems right in the kitchen with the other Osgood but with all of them it’s too full. 

It’s like Osgood doesn’t fit right here anymore. She doesn’t know how long she has been, well, dead, but somehow it doesn’t feel like her home now.

There’s a need for movement which she never experienced so intensely before but she can feel it below the surface, coded into her DNA. She had always wanted to travel with the Doctor- hell she’d been offered it- but this is so much more than that.

It must be some kind of side-effect of whatever she is now. If Heather has these incredible powers- not magic as Osgood is well aware that very advanced technology can seem like magic at first- and she brought Bill and herself back to a semblance of human life surely that could account for the drive to move, a lingering part of that ability to travel translated across into the two of them.

This place is still home- she still knows where the tins are stored and which corner of which cupboard holds that old fondue pot they were given for a present and have never used and where there’s a slight scratch on the wall from when she had dropped a hardback for some reason or another- but she doesn’t feel as tied to it now.

Bill and Heather talk to Kate more about what they do and can do and her sister sits beside her, only inches away and formulating tests they can do on a worn book with ruled pages and more than a few tea stains on the surface.

Osgood sees Kate glance down at the other Osgood’s work as she pauses to think of more questions and smiles at what she sees in the gesture.

Kate isn’t in love- not yet- but Osgood can tell that she’s interested in the very least and thinks highly of the other Osgood. 

Osgood thinks it should feel weird, watching a very attractive woman who is kind of her boss be interested in someone who is essentially her twin or her clone (whether she is the original or the other is), but it’s surprisingly nice to know that there will be someone to look after her sister even if nothing does happen between them.

 

Osgood asks for one more night in the house from Bill and Heather. Just one last night to remember this place because who knew how long before she came back.

The two women leave, dissolving into water.

The way they are pressed together, arms around each other and each leaning into the other leaves little doubt for what they are going to do before they come back and erases any doubt either Osgood or Kate has on the matter.

Before she leaves and while the second Osgood is washing the used mugs in the kitchen Kate grabs Osgood in the corridor.

“I’m really glad that you’re still alive.” She says warmly with a deep layer of guilt and fear and regret beneath it. 

Osgood smiles at her old boss.

“I’m glad you are too- you’ll look after her, won’t you?” Osgood replies, rhetorical question spilling from her even though she already knows the answer.

“Yes- I can’t let my best scientist go, can I?” Kate replies, smirking a little.

Osgood can’t help but smile a bit wider, almost laughing.

“Thank you.” She says simply but her old boss seems to get all that she means by it.

“I’m sorry we lost you but I hope you come back to visit.” She says honestly, “U.N.I.T isn’t the same without both of you. Hopefully knowing you’re alive will change thing but...” Kate trails off, grimacing.

“Yeah.” Osgood says with a nod, understanding.

 

That night the Osgoods sleep in a single bed in silence, the other empty.

It’s the best night of sleep the other Osgood has had since she’s died even if they are pressed back to back and spend at least one dark hour just talking about nothing.

 

The next morning brings another goodbye and a promise to come back for testing when U.N.I.T has penciled it in. 

The Osgoods hug and tell each other to stay safe and then it’s done and they’re leaving, Bill holding onto Heather and Heather with a hand on Osgood’s shoulder.

There’s the strange tickling sensation as she melts down and Osgood smiles, waving at her sister who grins back at her.

 

They reform in a quiet field of blue grass which seems to grow taller around them as if curious. Bill loosely grabs some which curls around her wrist but no further and seems happy enough to part when she moves a few steps away.

Osgood looks around in pure amazement at this grass which stretches on as far as she can see in every direction. 

“This is- this is an alien planet!” She says excitedly, looking to Heather, “It’s really- I’m standing on a planet which isn’t Earth. There are so many tests I want to do! This is amazing!” She continues, excitement growing as she notices the purple tint to the sky and the small creatures skittering about her feet.

“This is- wow!” She says again as Bill turns to laugh at her.

“Said she would like it.” The woman comments, grinning widely.

“It’s amazing. What is this place called?” Osgood asks, still looking around and trying to take everything in.

“It doesn’t get another name for more than a few million years at least.” Heather comments.

She stands perfectly still in the grass, eyes almost eerily fixed on the scientist. Slowly she smirks, head tilting to the side.

“Why don’t you name it?” She asks, stepping backwards with one foot to keep an eye on Bill who seems to be inspecting the grass with wonder as it curls around her fingers.

“Me? But I’m just me- I can’t name a planet!” Osgood splutters, feeling her cheeks redden and having a resurgence of gratitude for the fact she doesn’t need her inhaler anymore.

One of Heather’s eyebrows leaps up as she folds her arms and once again stares into Osgood’s eyes in a way which is completely challenging and also too attractive for Osgood’s good.

“Aren’t you a scientist? I thought you named things all the time. I looked you up- you’ve made quite a few discoveries.” She comments.

“I- well- those are small things- bacteria- the principles by which a piece of alien tech works. Not a whole planet. How could I name something so big?” Osgood exclaims, diverting her gaze from the far too intense look on Heather’s face.

“How did you know about those anyway? The discoveries made by U.N.I.T are locked away until it’s decided that the public would be able to cope with the information that aliens are real. The archives are locked down so tightly even I cannot get in and out again with any written information and a memory wipe to get rid of any remembered information.” The scientist says with a frown, squinting at the woman with suspicion.

Heather smiles.

“I don’t need doors.” She says simply, letting one hand turn into water then back.

Osgood feels distinctly uncomfortable at the rather obvious revelation.

They both pause and somehow Osgood thinks that Heather anticipates the question she is about to ask.

“Why did you bring me back? I don’t understand the motivation behind it. We never met.” Osgood says solemnly, feeling as if just by addressing it Heather could realise she had made a mistake and just undo it and leave her dead again.

Instead Heather just smirks again in that way which seems like mocking.

“You’ll have to ask Bill- that’s her question to answer.” She says, turning to walk after the other woman.

Osgood follows, worry and confusion creasing her face behind the other women’s turned backs.

 

They spend possibly hours or days exploring the planet- it’s hard to tell when there is no hunger or need to sleep to divide up the time by. Osgood spends the whole time thinking, wondering about why Bill had wanted to bring her back to life, theorising on the reasons for the grasses possible sentience or appearance of it and trying to figure out what the planet should temporarily be called because since Heather mentioned it she can’t get the idea of naming it out of her head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter's either on the 21st of October.

"Hey!" Osgood calls out, watching Bill wander over a hill, fingers brushing through the grass.

She stands up and begins waving, pulling herself up from her examination of the grass. When the other woman spies her she grins wide, eyes creasing with the smile as she heads towards Osgood a little faster although by no means running.

"Hey! Figured out anything about the grass yet?" Bill asks as she reaches her, hand on one hip.

"Well I have a few theories but not really any way to properly analyse the plants themselves. It could be that each grass is an individual receptor for something underneath the planet's surface or possibly some kind of hive mind. It's really interesting actually-" The scientist stops herself short, flushing a little and looking away.

"Sorry- that's not what I called you over for at all. I just- it's really incredible you know? One minute you're studying the usual Earth stuff, the next you're snapped up by an agency trying to prevent aliens from taking over the Earth and analysing all kinds of different fluids or mechanics. You get a body double and you aren't sure which of you is the double and then you're killed by the psychopath who is the best friend of the world's biggest defender and your biggest idol and you think that's going to be the end but then you wake up and you're on a beach and you're kind of an alien yourself." Osgood rambles then apologises again.

"It's just… It's good but it's a lot." She says, wrinkling her nose a little.

Bill grins again, eyes squeezed almost shut in a look that the scientist can't help but find hopelessly adorable and smile at herself.

"Don't worry. It's cute." The human says with a laugh which makes Osgood's stomach flip almost as much as the fact she's just been called cute by a girl who is incredibly cute herself.

She can't help the deep flush which takes over her cheeks despite the fact she doesn't really have a circulation system anymore which is quite strange really- definitely something to investigate later when she's finally asked the question she needs to more than anything.

She manages to pull herself back together enough to breathe out a long breath (again- something interesting as she no longer needs to breathe) and looks away from Bill, hoping it might somehow distract from the fact that she's been so affected by the woman's compliment.

"Why did you bring me back?" She asks, fixing her eyes back on the student.

Bill drops her smile a little, looking down awkwardly and scratching the back of her neck.

"Uh- well. This might be kind of awkward for you to hear." She admits, nose wrinkling as she looks up at Osgood again.

The student sighs.

"So. Basically the Doctor was keeping his best friend in a box- and I still think that's super weird by the way, just to be clear on that- and I met her and sometimes we talked and I caught her at a bad time a few times and this one time she was crying and the Doctor and Nardole weren't around to do anything about it so I thought I should at least give her someone to listen to, you know?" She asks, looking at Osgood as if she expects her to say yes.

"I can't really say I agree given that she killed me." Osgood says drily, arms folded in front of her chest.

Bill winces but nods.

"Yeah. I get that. Thing is she was really upset and she didn't really do much except sit and think about all the things she'd done for seventy years and I feel like that's a lot of time to be stuck in one room doing just one thing, even for a Time Lord." The student explains, grimacing at her own awkwardness and knowing that the argument was futile really. Osgood doesn't respond this time, merely raising an eyebrow in expectance.

"Anyway she was really upset and talking about things she regretted and she talked a lot about, well, you. She was really bad, one of the worst times I'd seen her. She kind of told me everything about it which is how I could find you and she was… She was good to me when I was going through a bad time. I felt like I owed her, you know? And there's no way you deserved to die for being pretty. That's a stupid reason to kill someone and she knew it. So I kind of told Heather that we should see if we could find you- I don't know. It felt like the right thing to do. We were going to just put you back in your normal life but well, you still could go back there if you want?" Bill finishes, tilting her head to the side as if apologetic for all the confusion Osgood is feeling and knowing her talking isn't really giving her any help with it.

"I." The scientist murmurs, thinking over everything she's just been told.

She feels uncomfortable at the mere mention of that woman and she can't lie that the idea that the Mistress regretting killing her did feel good in a vindictive way. She deserved far more than that for everything she's done over her regenerations.

"I don't think I could go back to normal life." Osgood says slowly, side-stepping how she feels about being essentially brought back because a psychopath felt bad about killing her.

Bill smiles a little and it grows across her face, lighting it up. She hugs Osgood tightly who flushes deeper again, spluttering a little before letting herself wrap her arms loosely around Bill and enjoy getting hugged by a cute girl.

"Good! Sometimes it can get a little boring with just me and Heather." Bill says, smiling again as she steps back.

They're silent for a moment, neither sure where to proceed from there.

The grass climbs up Osgood's wrist as it hangs still.

"So. You idolise the Doctor?" Bill asks teasingly.

Osgood blushes again.

"He's really clever and has been saving the Earth since it began, particularly humans. He tries to do the right thing and I've been hearing stories about him since I was a kid- of course I do!" The scientist declares.

Bill rolls her eyes in a way which somehow isn't patronising.

"The Doctor is a complete and utter idiot who runs like a penguin. He's brilliant but he's an idiot too." The student says, grinning.

Osgood tries to respond but finds she can't.

"Face it. The Doctor's a huge dork." Bill declares playfully.

"If the Doctor's a huge dork then so am I- I'm wearing his clothes." Osgood says proudly, smiling as if she's won something by the statement aside from Bill's horrified look.

"How did you even get his clothes? You have to be kidding? No- they can't be his! He wouldn't fit into them!" The student says.

Osgood laughs, almost doubling over with it.

"No- they aren't- not really. I just bought clothes that are like his and added things like bow ties and scarves and embroidered question marks." She reassures.

"That's still really weird. Can't believe I thought you looked cute in them. Think I'm scarred for life." Bill says, looking Osgood up and down as if the clothes might somehow bite her.

Osgood doesn't say anything despite the flood of heat she feels to her cheeks which really isn't logical. She does laugh a bit however.

"I'm going to get back to my research if you don't mind." Osgood says, smiling at the other woman as she crouches back down into the grass. Responding tendrils gently crawl over her skin, curious at the movement.

Bill blushes a little.

"Ah, sorry. No, of course! You do your research! It'll be interesting to know what you figure out! I'm going to see if I can find Heather." The woman says, waving a little as she starts to move past Osgood.

The scientist turns her face to the strands curling around her arm again to hide the slight laugh she can't help at the happiness Bill shows for everything and especially Heather.

"Have fun." She calls out, not turning to see the blush that spreads across Bill's face even as she hears the choking sound emitted from her.

"That's not! I wasn't!" The student protests.

Osgood just smiles at the grass as she looks closely at the underside of a strand that was wrapped around her palm until she pulled it free.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter's on the 23rd of December.

Osgood breathes out, smiling as her sister passes over her results, knowing she'll want to see them.

"Thank god that's over. It's not so fun being on the other side of it." She mutters as she scans the paper, mentally cataloguing all the things which are wildly different and those that are the same. It helps having her old files (although nowhere near as comprehensive as these) from when she applied for UNIT and their annual tests to compare to.

The other Osgood laughs, sitting down at her desk as neatly organised as they used to keep their twin desks. Osgood sits too across from her, feeling a pang of homesickness which she's quick to squash with the knowledge she could always come back.

They talk for a while, theorising together like they used to- not just on the results of today's tests but on other small things each of them have seen since. An unidentified chemical found in a train station of all places which doesn't seem to have originated on Earth and how gelatinous species survive and evolve.

The biggest difference is they're cramped over one desk with papers rather than two pushed together.

They barely notice Bill and Heather popping in and out to see of they're done or that hours have gone by until Kate comes in in the evening to tell them to get lost otherwise they'd be locked in.

The Osgoods look up in unison, blinking the numbers away as one checks the clock and the other gathers up the many neatly written out sheets and begins placing them gently into a bag.

Kate can't help but roll her eyes.

"God- I forgot what it's like having two of you. You better make sure that they don't work all weekend." She mutters the first bit to herself and the last sentence to Bill and Heather standing behind her and peering in with a mixture of concern and bemusement.

"Oh, don't worry. We can certainly do that." Heather says confidently, smirking behind the taller woman.

The Osgood who's been travelling with the two women shakes her head a little, unable to help smiling at the half-flirtatious tone Heather seemed to apply to everything from her observation. The other who has stayed behind however can't take her eyes off of Kate, laughing a little.

"We won't work  _all_ weekend." She insists, already straightening out any disorder on her desk.

"See that you don't. And I'll see you on Monday." Kate responds, smiling fondly and knowing that the warning probably won't be heeded.

Osgood looks at her sister, catching the blush on her cheeks as her boss finally leaves and looks at Bill and Heather, tilting her head and mouthing 'go'. The two are quick to leave, Heather snapping a small salute and Bill beginning to utter a question before they fall apart again, water soon vanishing from the floor.

Osgood hitches the bag of papers up onto her shoulder as her twin finishes reorganising the desk.

"Netflix and tea?" She offers, head tilted to the side as she smiles, glad to have some time to the two of them.

"Sounds good." Osgood agrees as they walk out, shoes tapping against the tiles evenly.

There's silence, most people having left for the day, as they walk through the many corridors of the complex.

"So. You and Kate? Anything happened there yet?" Osgood asks, breaking the quiet, "Because I know we both, you know, when I worked here?" She continues as the other her coughs a little, almost stumbling, eyes wide. She looks up, eyebrows raised as high as they'll go, incapable of speech.

"Maybe." She manages to get out eventually, bright red.

Osgood doesn't quite squeal at her sister but she does grin widely, knocking her arm as she stands up properly again, shoulders slumped as if embarrassed and not sporting her own huge smile.

"So?" She asks as they continue walking, she with a spring in her step and her sister looking away.

"I think that we need tea and to be out of the building we work in for this conversation." Osgood says, voice pitched high as she blushes.

* * *

"So?" Osgood asks again when they've walked back to the apartment they used to share, tucked the papers away into a small safe installed purely because the Osgoods had been so inclined to taking their work home with them, switched on the tv and settled down with a store-bought cake and some tea.

Her sister still blushes a little, hands wrapped around her white mug with the light grey scratches from moving on the side. She brings it to her lips before remembering it's too hot and sighs, looking at the selection of shows over the screen.

"I might have maybe stayed too late one night." Osgood confesses, eyes diverted entirely from her sister who rolls her eyes affectionately, knowing personally that that part doesn't even bear saying given their shared tendencies.

"And it had been a quiet day and Kate suggested we get chips. So we did. And it was nice. She suggested that we do something similar again sometime and I said yes. Things have been busy since then but, well, you know. It was nice." She says disjointedly, blushing as she sips at her tea, choking a little as it's still too hot.

"I'm almost jealous of you." The Osgood who's been away teases, trying to choose something to watch, "Can't believe I've been gone what, weeks, months? And you've already kind of went on a date with Kate." She says.

The other Osgood looks up, frowning.

"What do you mean? You have the girls, don't you? Heather and Bill?" She asks, curiosity on her face as she leans in.

The expression changes to amusement when she notices the traces of blush on her sister's more tanned cheeks.

"Come on- you can't tell me that nothing's happened." Osgood prods, smiling as her sister now takes a sip of the too hot tea to avoid talking about the women in her life.

"Three hopelessly gay, possibly immortal women travelling together, anywhere in the universe. Something's happened, hasn't it?" She asks, almost laughing at her sister's embarrassment.

"Maybe not actually." Osgood finally says.

The other frowns, eyebrows dropping in concern as the other takes her turn to look away.

"Oh?" She asks, tilting her head.

"Well they're together, aren't they? And they're both about ten, fifteen years younger than me, aren't they? They must be?" Osgood asks in return, gaze drifting in her mug as she lets the hand holding the remote fall.

"Well I suppose it's up to you three. They're adults though and I know that we're still attracted to and would happily road trip forever with people we thought were attractive ten, fifteen years ago. Not all relationships are just for two." Osgood says with a sigh, leaning against her sister in the solidarity she knows she needs.

"It's hard to see them like that though. Like- they're both really lovely and they're obviously cute as much as we hate to use that word. It's just that I'm so used to being with researchers- neither of them finished university. I don't even mean they aren't clever but there's just this part of me that thinks 'these people are still at university' and you know what we were like at that age." Osgood explains, leaning back too and accepting the gesture as she runs the hand that was holding the remote through her hair.

The other Osgood sips at her tea, shuffling over to the middle of the couch to sit properly again even if they are going to lean on each other.

"Yeah. I remember." She murmurs, sighing.

"Chloe." She says, the name being enough for her double who mimics her, pulling herself up to match Osgood except with her legs tucked half into her chest, the bottoms of her socks flat on the slightly worn cushion below her.

"Exactly." That Osgood says, frowning. She selects a show they've both already watched at random and settles further into the couch.

They watch, the mortal Osgood's eyes drifting somewhere after the fifth episode until she takes the remote and turns down the noise,

"Sorry. You can keep it on." She murmurs, yawning a little as she dislodges her empty mug from where she'd wedged it between the arm and the cushion of the sofa.

The other Osgood nods, taking the remote back and switching the tv off instead.

"Might just do a bit more on the research. Perks of not needing to sleep anymore." The scientist says with a slight smile, earlier upset almost forgotten as she picks up her own mug and head to the kitchen, collecting the other cup along the way.

"That's fine." Osgood agrees, stifling another yawn as she heads to the bedroom.

She's just about to close the door when she hears the tap turn on.

"Hey?" She calls out as quietly as she can, knowing it's probably late and other people will be trying to sleep.

The tap shuts off after a few seconds.

"Yeah?" Comes back through the open doors.

"I think you should give them a chance." Osgood says before she heads to the drawers to find some bedclothes suited to the somewhat chilly weather.

The tap turns on again and the Osgood who no longer needs to sleep frowns, scrubbing at the rings of tea against the off-white porcelain.

As much as she's probably right given that it's kind of her giving herself advice she still doesn't want to admit that it could be good.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter on the 24th of February.
> 
> Also I feel like Heather's the smoothest lesbian and I am very jealous, haha!

It doesn't take too much longer (in time bearing relation only to themselves) before Osgood finally brings up the things she'd discussed with her sister with Bill and Heather.

* * *

They're lying on a large bed in an unneeded hotel room, well Bill and Heather are, laughing at some bizarre alien show which has no discernible point to them shown from a round disc on the wall.

Osgood meanwhile is sat at the desk, leaning over it despite the reclining back of the chair, as she fiddles with a palm sized device, carefully dismantling it. She organises each piece she pulls from it carefully on the desk, knowing that it will give her a far better chance of her putting it back together working. The few places they had stayed at so far when trying to put on a facade of actually being humans and needing sleep had seemed quite displeased by having their technology mysteriously not work the next day.

As much as they didn't make a fuss over it and insisted that it must be their fault- the technology is too old or too new and 'yes- people have complained over it before'- it was more than a little impolite to break everything in their hotel rooms even if it is for research purposes.

Though she isn't going to stop.

Osgood knows that it would be a lot easier if she would just stop taking things to pieces but it's all just so interesting!

It might not be so fascinating when she has a wider understanding of all the technology in the universe and across time but right now she is getting used to the novelty of not needing to sleep and the ease with which she can get access to things not created by humans compared to when she was stuck in twenty-first century Earth.

It's strange now even to see how she thinks of her life on Earth as being trapped when it had seemed so free then with the job of her dreams.

Regardless.

She thinks she's beginning to understand how their technology works here, powered by a small crystalline structure which might be a battery of some form although she isn't sure what energy it stores.

If she could only get a look at their earliest technology it would be a lot easier to figure out how it works but there's something more fun about the challenge of working from modern things, having to find out what they have in common, what they derived from and what the key components are, what they have that is specific to their purpose.

Technological evolution.

She supposes.

"Still making eyes at a remote control?" Heather asks, voice somewhat closer than Osgood expected.

She leans back, turning to see the smirk on the other woman's face and raises an eyebrow.

"Must have been making eyes at me to realise." The scientist teases in return.

"Well the tv does get kind of boring when you have no idea what's going on and no context for any of it. Much more interesting to watch you take the remote control to pieces." Heather says, still smirking as she tilts her head and Osgood isn't sure if it's meant to be an insult or a compliment.

Osgood frowns a little, putting down the device and spinning in the chair to face the woman properly.

"We need to talk about this." She says suddenly before she thinks about the words knowing that her sister was right.

"Talk about what?" Responds Heather, eyes alight with mischief or something like it as she stands over Osgood.

Osgood stares back at her, challenging her.

"The relationship between the three of us and what we want from it. Forever is a pretty long time for us to mostly be around each other." She says certainly, adjusting her glasses in a nervous gesture.

Osgood can hear Bill choke on nothing and catches the edge of her sitting up in shock from behind Heather, coughing.

Heather however just smiles, dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed again. She folds one jean-clad leg over the other, leaning back on her hands.

"So?" She asks, amusement still playing over her face, "What do  _you_  want from us?" And if there's a slight blush on her cheeks Osgood doesn't mention it.

"Well." The scientist starts, gaze dropping in embarrassment as she forces herself to speak, "I would like to be able to have a romantic relationship with both of you." She states, looking back up and pretending that all that matters is the fact that she does and that this doesn't have the capability of going horrendously wrong if she's misread them.

"And maybe sexual." Osgood admits, bright red by this point, "If that's what you both want too." She adds in panic at the last moment, almost choking on the words because what if this isn't what they want? What if she's read them all wrong?

There's silence aside from the alien language on the television, not translated without their physical proximity to the one speaking.

This.

This was a mistake.

Of that Osgood is certain.

"I wondered how long it would take you to pick up on the hints. I haven't been very subtle." Heather taunts and Osgood looks up and she's still making that stupid smirk and Bill is bright red behind her, staring at Osgood in as much shock as Osgood is staring at the two of them.

Heather looks back at Bill, one eyebrow raising in question and Bill somehow turns even more red.

"Yeah- yeah. That would be- that would be… Good. Great. Amazing. We would- yeah." She stammers, eyes wide as she tries to process what just happened.

"Well that's settled." Heather says matter-of-factly, looking back to Osgood who blinks in surprise and confusion, flush slowly disappearing.

"I suppose it is." Osgood says just to speak, uncertain about what to do now, where to go, what to say now that it's at least resolved.

* * *

Only a few days after Osgood has said goodbye to her sister again she finds an oddly sized postcard with a strange set of rock formations in a blue-grey set against a magenta sky on them and a caption that she can't read on her doormat. Flipping it over reveals a handwriting she knows intimately well, it being her own.

She smiles, standing in the hallway with a mug of breakfast tea as she reads it, paying close attention to the diagrams sketched on the right and the three names signed at the bottom.

Osgood laughs a little at that, smiling just a little wider as she moves back to the kitchen and sticks the postcard, picture side facing out, to the fridge with one of the magnet letters they have left over from university and a failed attempt at organising things with their flatmates.

* * *

Osgood pushes her glasses up in mild irritation as she stares intently at the book she is trying to read.

It's difficult enough to be attempting the translation into English in her head without having some paper to scrawl notes on but the glare of the suns overhead which bounce off her glasses make it a lot more challenging. Why had Bill and Heather insisted on going to a resort planet?

She glances over to Heather on her right drinking some kind of cocktail despite the fact Osgood is quite sure she could choose to alter her blood alcohol levels to a tipsy state if she wanted to. The woman still looks obnoxious though Osgood does note that she isn't quite smirking for once although the shades over her eyes do obscure the precise expression somewhat as she sits on the towel in a very vintage sundress.

One of the perks of being able to recompose yourself in any form you want, Osgood supposes, is that you have an infinite choice of the clothes you could make too.

She turns back to her book, sighing as the light once again catches on her glasses and hides the pages in front of her.

Then there's movement almost beneath her, warmth beside her chest and the slight coolness as a shadow falls over her.

"You know that you don't need to wear them, right?" Bill says, confusion playing across her face as she gestures loosely to Osgood's face.

The scientist blinks in confusion, shifting onto her side and tracking Bill's distracted gaze travel past her face before snapping back, cheeks tinged red.

"Your glasses I mean. Heather made it so you could see fine without them." She says, frowning.

"Didn't you?" The student asks Heather who now turns to look at them, lowering her shades and letting her large straw hat cast a shadow over her face.

"Well yes. But she looks good in glasses so I didn't say anything." The woman admits, smirking again, cocktail glass dangling from one hand an inch or so above the sand.

Osgood flushes but rolls her eyes and takes her glasses off, blinking a little in surprise when her vision quickly readjusts.

"Could have told me earlier." She mutters, going back to her book which is somewhat easier to translate when she is not blinded by the light.

Bill chuckles, resettling a little closer to Osgood.

"Well yes. We've already covered that." Heather responds just to have the last word.

It's only mature that Osgood in response waits ten minutes before closing her book when everyone seems to have relaxed again, quietly goes over to Heather and drops a handful of sand down the back of her dress.

The woman shrieks, almost upsetting the remnants of her drink before she starts giggling, standing to shake it out and then beginning a thirty minute beach fight between the three of them, almost choking on their own laughter.


End file.
